US defence secy Pete Hegseth says one doesn't have to 'trust' Putin to negotiate Ukraine peace deal
WORLD | US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday (Feb 14) that one does not have to "trust" the Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate the peace deal with Ukraine.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday (Feb 14) said that one does not have to "trust" the Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate the peace deal with Ukraine. Hegseth, at a press conference in Poland with the Polish defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, expressed expectations on Trump-Putin talks
"Is there trust there? No," Hegseth said.
"You don’t have to operate under a position of trust in order to negotiate a deal. But again, I’m the secretary of defence, it’s not my job to read the mind of Vladimir Putin," he added.
The defence secretary said that it ultimately would be Trump who would bring Putin and Zelensky on the table to negotiate.
"You don’t have to trust somebody in order to negotiate with them, but as Ronald Reagan said, if you don’t trust, you need to verify," he added.
US troops could be deployed in Ukraine?
Hegseth further said that he "does not believe" US troops could be deployed to Ukraine. But added that America is open for negotiation.
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"Negotiations happen. The president has latitude, and what happens is those negotiations is his prerogative," Hegseth said.
European involvement
Further in the conference, Hegseth gave a hint at the European involvement in Ukraine talks.
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"So what those borders ultimately look like...I think is part of the discussion that would be had between our president, Zelensky, Putin and likely Europe’s involvement in those discussions as well," Hegseth said.
(With inputs from agencies)
